Baby Mine
by LauraCynthia
Summary: A single mother is dead. Paternity, murder,hostage taking, and all the gang. FINISHED WITH A NEW CHAPTER!
1. The Call

"I'm telling you, it was this big." Myles motioned an inch with his hands.  
"Okay, enough about your childhood injuries. I'm really not in the mood to hear about a scrape half the size of a credit card." Lucy waved away his hands at the table. "No, the only interesting thing about credit cards in your opinion is maxxing them out"  
"Pass the salt, will you? I think our restaurateur has no sense of taste." Lucy picked up the shaker, mock-threw it at Bobby, and continued her sandwich. "Okay, why is it that when we are eating we suddenly feel compelled to share the most disgusting anecdotes we've ever heard?" Tara waved her hands around. "That reminds me...ever puked all over your own birthday cake?" Myles asked.  
Sue looked down at her spaghetti with distaste. "Suddenly, she regrets ordering a generous helping of cottage cheese." Jack observed, smiling. Lucy paled.  
"Thank you very much, I am never going to look at that stuff the same way again." She dipped her head down and stared at her plate.  
Suddenly, a cell phone rang. "Whose is it this time?" Tara asked. "Mine," Jack said. He picked it up. "Hello," he said. "...what? This morning?...when...a friend found her...uh huh,...got it. We'll be there." He hung up.  
"What is it?" Sue asked. "New case. A single mother has been murdered. Found this morning. And her son was the only other one in the apartment that we know of"  
"So that would make him the prime suspect, then?" Myles asked, as he got up.  
"Not exactly"  
"Well, who else could it be"  
"It's not him." Jack stared at him.  
"And just how do we know that"  
Jack paused. "He's two years old." The women looked shocked.  
Myles paused, too. "Well, I suppose that could be a problem." They all got up and walked away.  
A large man in a green apron plodded out. "Hey, where's the money? I don't take no credit from nobody!" Everybody stared at Myles, who sighed and whipped out a $100 bill. "Keep the change, we've got a killer to catch"  
The man smiled. "Typical workday, huh"  
"No workday is typical."

(cityscape thing)

The young woman was clearly upset. "Tonya - that's her name, Tonya Carter - I met her at our Lamaze class. When she was still pregnant with Denny. Everybody pitied her 'cause those loser boyfriends of hers had left her in the lurch. She was the only one all alone. Never seemed to bother her, though. Even joked about it. Said that she never had to worry about having a nervous guy driving to the animal hospital instead"  
Sue clasped her hand. "I know it must be very tough for you, Aimee. Especially since you found her"  
"Yeah, yeah we were going to the mall. Me and Clarissa, her and Dennisean. I never called him that. Always Denny. She kept correcting me, saying she was sure that someday she would get back together with one of them"  
"Dennisean"  
"Yeah. A combination of the two men who could be his father. Dennis Maxwell and Sean Millard. Anyway, I walked in the apartment,-she'd given me a key, said she trusted me like a sister- and put Clarissa in Denny's playpen. And I-I found her...on the bed...with a knife in her back...and I shuddered...then I thought, where's the baby? Oh, God, where's the baby? And, suddenley, I heard the sound of crying...Lord, you don't know how I loved the crying then. I picked him up, and rocked him...and then I called the police. The baby comes first...you know." Sue passed her a tissue. "Yes, you did the right thing." Levi pawed the woman's jeans, and she patted him. "Now, do you know where these men are"  
Aimee wiped her tears. "I think so. Sean's probably working at the movie theater...the old one on the corner of Spring and Mullins. And Dennis"  
She paused. "Dennis would be either at the bookstore...or at home with his family"  
"His family?" Sue asked.  
"Yeah...he's got a wife and two kids." 


	2. The First Suspect

(cityscape)  
Sue, Jack, and Myles walked into Icecafe Books, Levi wagging his tail at a child who was coming out the other door with a picture book in hand. It didn't take them long to find Dennis. The smiling man at the counter with a latte in hand was grinning fit to kill at a customer who had just bought an entire collection of teen romance novels. The teen, who looked slightly weirded out, grabbed her bag gingerly from him, walked towards the door, stared back, and then continued outside. Dennis quickly turned his attention to the new customers.  
"Hello there. Can I help you with anything?" "Sure can." Jack said. He took out his badge. "FBI. We want to ask you about your relationship with Tonya Carter"  
Dennis blinked. "I don't believe this. Kelly! You can turn off the bug, I am not cheating any more! I'm sorry, guys, but a nice costume and a cute badge don't cut it"  
"Oh, this is real, very real, Dennis. We are not paid patsies spying for your wife." Myles said. "You loved this woman. Didn't you"  
"Listen, it's all over. I have a wife, I have a family, she means nothing to me. Just let it go." He paused. "Why is the FBI getting involved in my lovelife? I'm a nobody"  
"Well, let me put it this way. You stopped being a nobody right about yesterday when Tonya was discovered murdered in her apartment"  
Dennis paled. "Wha-what-what? She's-what?" He slumped down in his chair.  
"You started dating her around the time that she broke up with her other boyfriend, right? And the relationship quickly escalated. There's only one problem. You were married, at that time, for 3 years, with your current wife. And Tonya didn't know it. Up until about a month ago. She apologized, I'm sure, poor thing, and begged you to forget her. But you couldn't do that. Sean treated her like a dog"-Levi's ears perked up-"-and she hoped that IF and only IF you divorced Kelly, you would protect her. You didn't want that. You were caught between a rock and a hard place. Sure, Sean was an ass, but he never beat her. Just insulted her and strung along a couple of dozen concubines. And you still loved Kelly, but you also wanted her off your back about Tonya this and Tonya that. So you would do whatever it takes to achieve your goal? Theory, yes, practice,no. Things hardly ever turn out the way we want them to"  
"Listen, I don't make rash decisions. If I'm mad, I think over it first. I'm not like that. I live by my instincts, do what I feel is right"  
"Well, I may not be an expert in genetics, but I can assure you there is no hereditary predisposition that makes one kill single mothers," Myles said in the way that he said most things; with an air of dark or wry humor.  
"Dennis Maxwell, you are under arrest for the murder of Tonya Carter." Jack said in a commanding voice. As Dennis was being cuffed, he looked at Sue, the only silent witness to the arrest. She, at that moment, had a strange feeling that Myles's ability to spin a tale, albeit using some facts, was not entirely true to life.

"I don't think it was him"  
"Here we go again. First Pretty Boy defends himself with gut feelings, now Miss T here is relying on her gastrointestinal alert system to dictate to us what we're supposed to do. Gee, my stomach is feeling queasy, too. Shall we go set some terrorists free? Whoops, it's just gas...too late, they just blew up the Capital building"  
"But we didn't even talk to Sean yet. How do we know we have the right man"  
"We are going to talk to him. Still, we have to make sure that if Dennis is the perp, he won't skip town." Jack put his hand on her shoulder. "You're usually right. But we can't afford to take chances"  
"Who's minding Denny"  
"Children's Aid. Until they know if he has any living relatives, they can't adopt him out. They've placed him with a foster family for now, but they'll keep checking Tonya's papers and personal items for any information"  
"That's good. Have they found anything at all yet"  
"No. Apparently she didn't have a lot in her apartment. Just some of Denny's daycare papers and some applications for colleges. It seems she was considering going back to school. Maybe wanted to find a better job"  
The phone rang. Jack picked it up. "Hello...what? You're kidding! He just...okay...I expected as much." He hung up. "Sh...USH"  
"Who was that"  
"One of our guys. Sean's flown the coop"  
Myles gaped. "All hail the Belly Medium"  
Sue put her hand on Levi's head. "Sometimes I hate being right." 


	3. The Jumper

"Where was he last seen?" Sue asked. She slipped Levi a doggy treat from a bowl that was on her desk.  
"He left the movie theater last night at about 3 am. Then, he went to his apartment. But he didn't stay there; his bed was made. All he did was grab something and leave. Since then, who knows?" Jack looked as though he didn't know quite what else to say after that.  
Bobby walked up to the two of them and said, "Hate to interrupt you, mates, but there's some breaking news I thought you might want to hear.Or read." He motioned towards the TV screen in the corner. Myles sat there completely immersed in the task of watching the report.Tara was making a meal out of a pencil, and Lucy looked as though she had been hypnotized. Sue and Jack followed Bobby over there. When Myles saw that someone else had become interested in the same thing he was, which didn't happen very often, he looked over at them.  
"There's our boy. Guess he couldn't take the heat"  
Sue saw the headline on the screen; SUICIDE ATTEMPT. "What's going on"  
"Read and learn"  
"Just to recap for you, police are in the middle of trying to counsel a man who is trying to commit suicide. They first became aware of the situation when a 911 call was made saying that there was a man on the bridge over Highway 7, who was yelling something and looking over the side of the bridge several times. Police are not releasing the man's identity, but our sources have informed us that he is currently wanted for the murder of a single mother, whose 2-year-old child has now been placed in foster care.We'll update this story as new details come in"  
"Boy, I'll tell you one thing," Myles said, turning around in his chair and muting the sound on the TV, "if he doesn't succeed, he'll wish he did"  
Jack sighed with relief. "You know, some people would rather he did succeed, I'm sure"  
"Excuse me?" Sue wanted to make sure she wasn't reading him wrong.  
"Think about it. One less case to prosecute. One less trial to deal with. One less prisoner to crowd the penitentiaries. All it means is one more autopsy. Piece of cake. I'm sad to say it, but a lot of people feel that way." "How about this?; one more body to bury.One more funeral. One more set of parents to mourn. Maybe even one more child without a father"  
Tara looked up. "Wait a minute...they said Denny's been put in foster care? I thought he was with Children's Aid. Did they place him that quickly"  
"Yeah, that was weird. Well, they said they had heard from a 'source'. Maybe it wasn't a very accurate one"  
"I'll call them in any case. They really should have called us first"  
A few minutes later, she hung up. "The source was right. I just talked to Denny's case worker. She said that he had been placed in a family. The mother's name is Kelly Drake.Got two kids...a 4 year old and a 3 year old"  
"Kelly...Kelly...she married?" Jack asked "I didn't ask. They didn't say"  
"Dennis's wife's name is Kelly"  
"You're kidding...why would she apply to be a foster mother for the baby of her husband's adulterous lover"  
"Now, that's forgiveness." Myles pointed at nothing.  
"To err is human, to forgive is divine." Jack quoted.  
"The ultimate one-up-manship, I gather?" Bobby quipped.  
Myles was watching the TV again.  
"...despite attempts at police intervention, the man jumped from the bridge just 10 minutes ago...and they are saying he is dead. Paramedics made an effort to resuscitate him, but there was no success...and he is now being carried away. More on this story later...now, back to the regular news.Paul"  
"'Some people' are going to be very, very happy." Myles said. He lifted himself from the chair and got up. "It's over"  
"It's never over. Not yet" Sue and Jack said in unison. They looked at each other.  
"Amazing. I thought only twins could do that." Myles noted.  
"You think there's more to the case? I do." Sue said. She was surprised that Jack believed the same thing she did.  
"Yes and no. There's going to have to be, as I said, an autopsy. And the police are probably going to want us to check out the scene, it being our case and all. A few papers to fill out, a signature, and that's it. For now." He turned to look out the window, at absolutely nothing.  
(cityscape)  
The air was warm. Levi was busy being babysat by a bystander, a healthy-sized teenage girl who had witnessed the jump and was waiting to be questioned. Sue stood near the bridge, looking up at the vast sky above her. Something was going to happen. She could tell by the shapes of the clouds, the number of birds flying by, the heat of the sun; in fact, all of the inanimate objects in the immediate area seemed to say, "There's more to this than meets the eye." She brushed a strand of hair from her face, and walked over to the girl, who had found a stick somewhere and was throwing it for Levi. "It's terribly warm out, isn't it"  
The girl looked up. She had deep brown eyes, and hair the color of the stick's bark. "Yeah." She looked tired, and slightly upset.  
"Can you tell me what you saw,...ummm"  
"Name's Laura"  
"Laura, yes, I think you told me. I forgot"  
"I was just standing here,...I was on lunch break from school. This guy...Sean, you say, I saw him up there. Man, he just kept looking down. I thought he was staring at me, got scared...then I saw he was looking down at the ground, not me in particular-oh!" Here Levi brought the stick back and rested his head on Laura's lap. Her eyes stopped squinting at the sun and she sighed. "Anyway, I saw him sitting on the ledge, looking around...he looked as though someone was holding a gun to his head or something. Then, he started yelling. 'I did it, I killed her, I wanted her dead.' Over and over again. But it sounded really funny"  
"What do you mean"  
"Well, the way he said it...I'm horrible at memorising things, and that's the way I'd say something if I was reading it off a script. I probably wouldn't yell, but I'd do what else he did...stammer, kind of pause, like I don't know if I'm doing it right...and there was something else"  
"What"  
"Right before he started yelling, he reached inside his jacket. Maybe getting notes or something"  
"Maybe." Sue had a feeling she was on to something. "When he jumped"  
"Oh, the police were talking to him,funny he didn't answer. Just kind of mouthed the words, like he was hoarse from all that yelling. Then, without warning, he dropped. Just let himself go. Whoosh!" Laura pointed down. "They said he broke his neck in the fall. Couldn't save him. Man, what would make a guy so hopeless to go and jump off a bridge? I wonder who he killed"  
"Nobody." Sue said to herself. "Thank you, Laura. You've been a big help." She clucked at Levi and he ran to join her. When she found Jack, he had a weird expression on his face. "You were right.Jeez"  
Sue told him what Laura had said. Jack hemmed and hawed in all the right places. Finally, he spoke up. "I bet I know what was in his jacket"  
"You do"  
"Paramedics tried to move his tongue out of the way to free the airway"  
"I don't know where you're going"  
"There was no tongue. Somebody cut it out." Sue looked properly horrified.  
Bobby jogged up to the couple, waving a plastic Ziploc bag in their faces. "We got it. Took us some looking. Can't talk coherently without a tongue. Would've been harder to understand than Sue with laryngytis. Must've recorded this before the 'operation'." The bag contained a tape recorder. 


	4. The Tongue and The Tape

"They cut out his what?" Lucy looked as though she was going to throw up. "Man, that is nasty. Somebody sure didn't like him"  
"Or, they wanted him to do everything they said. He couldn't possibly tell the police from that height what he really wanted to say." Jack placed a folder on the desk next to him.  
"And the suicide? Forced?" Myles shrugged his shoulders.  
"I'd say yes. To throw us off course"  
"But it would have been so easy for the real killer just to dump the guilt in Sean's lap. He confesses, jumps, end of story. Case closed." Sue said.  
"To tell you the truth, I have no idea why he did that. Maybe he wants to be found, I really don't know." He squeezed the folder he had just put down, as if he was looking for something to relieve his tension. Sue saw this, and wished she could help him, wished she knew the answer to everything so he could take a break. Levi must have seen it too, because he walked over to Jack and offered something real that he could touch without getting into trouble for wrecking it. Jack reached down and patted him on the head."Thank you." He looked lost in the moment, and then Levi walked away. Taking it as a hint that he needed a breather, yes, but lives are on the line, Jacko,he looked up. "Tara? You've been playing with that thing for an hour now. Any luck"  
"Yes and no. Okay, the tape pretty much matched what Sue's witness said. He goes on and on about killing her. And I noticed the same thing she did; it does sound like he's reading it from a script"  
"Did you edit out his voice and check the background"  
"Yeah, and I saved it as a file. Listen,guys, and tell me what this sounds like..." She clicked on PLAY. Jack signed to Sue (she couldn't see Tara's face behind the computer) She is going to play the tape with Sean's voice not on it. Everybody but Sue heard a rustling noise, and some coughs. "Like paper. Flipping pages." Jack said, signing to Sue.  
"Exactly. Our boy is a reader"  
"What makes you so sure he didn't write the script himself? Like you write a suicide note." Lucy asked.  
"Yeah, and then he goes into the kitchen and takes out a steak knife for some pre-death self-mutilation. What kind of guy cuts out his own tongue?" Myles closed his eyes and shook his head from side to side. "Bleccchhhh"  
"Is that really Sean's voice?" "Yeah, his landlady confirms it"  
"What else is there"  
Tara stood up. "Sean's message is on side B of the tape. But when you listen to side A, that's where things really get interesting. And confusing"  
"How so"  
"This is just your standard recording tape. Blank on both sides; they're sold so you can record your own things on it. Listen"  
A song began to play. Jack signed the words to Sue as they played. Dirty red underwear in the hall/ can't begin to make sense of it all/you left me alone, what can I do/everything Ihave reminds me of you  
"Man, that guy's got a problem," Myles said.  
"I searched all the major song lyric sites, and no total matches. I also entered the lyrics in several search engines. No hits"  
"Which means"  
"Either the song isn't very popular, or we'rev looking at a garage band here"  
"What do they call it when you're trying to make up a song? Something to do with jelly..." Sue paused.  
"Jamming?" Jack offered.  
"Exactly. Maybe it isn't even a song yet"  
"You could have something there." Jack looked around. "So...we need to find Underwear Guy. Maybe he lives in Sean's apartment building?" Myles asked.  
"Nope. I'm ahead of you there. I asked the landlady if any of her tenants had a band. She said no"  
"So...you're thinking that maybe..." Lucy paused. "...maybe he didn't record it at his apartment. Maybe he went somewhere else"  
"Makes sense to me. There's more"  
"What"  
"There was background noise on that side of the tape, too. Very faint, but that's what I'm here for." She played it.  
"Hey...Ian...hand me the paper...ass...Ian...you're an ass"  
"So are you...ass"  
"Know anybody named Ian?" 


	5. The Cafe

Sue sat down in the leather seat of the cafe booth, easing herself gently down. (Levi had already settled down underneath the table, tired after the long walk.) It was a reflex she picked up in some restaurants, where you didn't know what somebody had left on the chair prior to you sitting there. She had to admit, it was kind of odd that it happened here, since Heartsaflame Cafe wasn't McDonalds...what with the "hidden needle" urban legends...but maybe it was something inside of her that didn't sit right, like today. It had been foggy, not breath-out-a-little-steam-foggy, but can't-see-your-sunglasses-even-though-they're sitting-on-your-face foggy. That was why she had been prepared to walk to the cafe, only to find that sitting in an office all morning had deluded her perception of the outdoors, which was perfectly clear now. But it had been a beautiful day nonetheless, so she walked anyway.  
"I forgot...you have to see me talk, right?" Aimee King sat down at the booth. "Sorry, but it was so funny, at first...I was waving, and calling you, and, like, you said nothing...and then it hit me...you can't hear me. Sorry"  
"It's okay." She settled back, more comfortable this time. "This is a nice place. Great atmosphere." "Yeah, me and Tawn used to come here all the time. We'd chat about life, pregnancy, everything. It was one of those friendships where you know a person for a minute, and it feels like forever. Know what I mean"  
"Yes, I have friends like that,too," she said, no doubt thinking of the gang, including a certain someone who was more than a friend. "God knows everybody like that. He already loves you even if you're seconds old. You're an eternity in God's eyes"  
"I like to think that Tonya is watching her baby from heaven. Did you know that Dennis and Kelly are his foster parents"  
"I had heard that, yes"  
"It's so sweet. Their marriage was breaking down before Tonya died. It was just her he was going out with and all, but Kelly didn't believe that. They had screaming fits. But now, ever since Denny came to live with them, they really started to be civil to each other. I think God is using her baby to help them. Is that why she died? Do you think"  
"It's very possible." A waitress came over. She was wearing a short brown skirt and a brown tee-shirt to match. "Want something"  
"Yes, I'll have a plain coffee, with cream, and sugar"  
"Me, too. Oh, and one of them yummy chocolate rolls." Aimee smiled at Sue. "Can't live without my Vitamin C. C for caffeine and chocolate"  
The waitress wrote this down. "You should come back here tonight. There's gonna be some local guys playing here." She handed them a flyer from her clipboard. "They're really good, I heard. No CD yet, but they're being scouted tonight by an agent. Might be their big break."She walked away.  
Aimee looked at the flyer. She frowned. "Is something wrong?" Sue asked.  
"No...you asked me to tell you if anything weird happened, right? Or if I know anything? Well, that band...name's "ABCDZ"...me and Tonya went to a concert of theirs about 2 1/2 years ago...and she had a fling with the band leader...just a month or so...she knew him from high school, they had a couple of classes together...it's really nothing...nothing at all. He was a little peeved. "You need a good-looking chick at your side to portray the image," he'd say. They only slept together once, and that was when they broke up. She was drunk at the time, no Denny"  
Sue took the flyer from Aimee's hand. "Playing tonight! ABCDZ; band members; Jack Wallace, Tommy Screwber, Rex Rigley, Don Mckoe,...and Ian Zeppers." Sue bit her lip.  
"Can I have this, Aimee"  
"Oh, sure, I'll just get another. I love local talent." She got up just as the waitress returned with the coffees and Aimee's roll. Levi got up and walked out from under the table. Sue hugged him tightly. 


	6. The Almost Concert Date

"Looks like we have a concert to go to." Jack said. He and the others had just finished listening to Sue's story. "And I suppose the FBI's favorite couple can go on another date." Lucy suggested.  
"Actually we had something different in mind." Jack said, sitting on the corner of a desk. "Sue did say that there was going to be an agent scouting them tonight"  
"Ahhh," Lucy said, the lightbulb going on in her head, or so Sue imagined. "Just not the agent they think." She pointed at Jack, then Sue. "An FBI agent instead of a talent agent"  
"Precisely. We contacted the Starlite Talent Group, and the scout says that he only corresponded with the group via e-mail"  
"Really, so no visuals"  
"Not unless you look hard enough. The guy says he's going to take his pictures off the agency site, just in case Ian gets a tip we're not legit"  
"But he might have already checked the site out"  
"We'll just have to hope he didn't. I got a business card from the guy, and some papers to make me look good"  
"Plus," Myles piped up, "you've got that certain irresistible yuppie schoolboy charm that'll wow anyone who so much as looks at you. Heck, we've got the test case right here," he said, pointing at Sue.  
"What's the plan? Meet, greet, cuff, rough and tough?" Bobby asked.  
"No; we're not going to try that again. Didn't work with Dennis." Jack said, shooting a glance at Myles, who promptly recieved it like a perfect football pass. "I have to admit, you have a way with words, but you're just lucky his family isn't going to sue us"  
"Very forgiving of him. I probably wouldn't do the same"  
"So, what's the story with Zeppers? His record?" Sue asked.  
"Not much. Setting a fire in the school yard at the age of 9, police bring him home, end of story. Speeding tickets, like every other person in the known universe. Rumors of drug trafficking but nothing they could bring him in on"  
"What about the other group members"  
"Clean as a Polysporin'd wound. I don't think they know Ian's private life. Apparently they're band buddies, the occasional party, but that's about as far as it goes. Strange"  
"Any girlfriends"  
"None we can find"  
"Great. Tonya's the only one we got, and she's dead. Maybe the others are too." Myles suggested.  
"Yuck, I hope you're wrong." Lucy shivered.  
"If the talent scout happens to bring along a date, do you think he'll suspect anything?" Sue asked Jack "It might help to make him-me-more credible. Impressing his favorite girl by taking her out on the job...yes, I think that would work." Jack looked at her. "Oooh, he called you 'favorite'. Going steady once more?" Lucy asked.  
"Guess so."

(at the heartsaflame cafe)

Sue and Jack clapped along with the rest of the crowd. The warmup act, a young girl singing a popular love song. She smiled, brushed away the hair from her face, then picked up her guitar and started to put it into the case. "You enjoyed that, didn't you? Reading it." Jack asked.  
"I certainly did, Mr. Michael Cruz." Sue said, smiling. Michael Cruz was the name of the talent scout Jack was pretending to be.  
"I keep hearing that song, and yet I never seem to get tired of it. It's sweet, slow, a bit melancholy. A bit reflective, too." He played with the basket of coffee whitener packets. "Makes me think of something I want. Something everyone wants and noone can provide." He stared at her. "Some things are impossible. But that doesn't mean we can't dream." Sue said. She squeezed his hand. "Of a day when they might not be"  
Their little scene was interrupted by the horrible squealing of a microphone.Waves of spectators covered their ears. Lucky me Sue signed to Jack, who had a tortured look on his face.He nodded. A young woman, fattish and red-haired with glasses, piced up the mike. "Sorry 'bout that." She looked around. "You've all come to see ABCDZ, right?" A loud "YES!" resounded throughout the crowd. "Well, I've got this message...e-mail message..., uh, "we can't make it the concert, other things came up"...that's a paraphrase, but that's the gist of it. Sorry again, but, we've got lots of great music, and Jeanne, you've got anything else?" The girl who had been singing earlier nodded. "Great. Stick around folks. We've still got plenty of coffee left!" She smiled, and walked off stage. As Jeanne came walked up again, Sue and Jack exchanged looks of dismay. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. 


	7. The Video

"Either they had a very convenient family tragedy, or they're on to us." Jack said.  
"By the way, just what does the real Michael Cruz look like?" Myles asked. "Just,just out of curiosity"  
"Old, bald, and Spanish.And fat. Did I mention fat"  
"I can see how he didn't fall for it"  
"The main thing is, we have to talk to them. We're not even sure they have anything to do with it. They could be just scared. There have been many false accusations before"  
"And that, is about to change." Tara walked in, clutching a videotape. "I got the security video outside of Tonya's apartment. Wanna see"  
"What's the rating? Is it kid-friendly? Wouldn't want my child-like innocence to be corrupted." Myles joked. "PG-13 is as far as I'm allowed to go...unless Mommy isn't home, that is." "Don't worry, there's no gory bits"  
"I'll hold your hand if you're scared...baby." Bobby smirked.  
"Har har"  
"All it shows is people coming in and out of the building. Including a certain young man." Sue looked up at Ian's picture. It was a grainy black-and-white shot from one of the band's flyers. A young man, smiling at something incomprehensible, with dark hair, and eyes that contradicted the smile. Very upset, as if he couldn't make up his mind.  
"Now, remember that face." Tara said, obviously noticing Sue's interest in it. Myles took the photo off the board. "Can I borrow this? I have a terrible memory"  
"Watch. This is at 3:16 am. There's nobody there. Suddenly, see this guy walk on by the screen? He's obviously nervous; watch him shift his feet." The man kicked some leaves and debris around. "Freezing it right here-" she paused the picture-"and zoom in...what do we have here"  
"None other than Mr. Zeppers himself,I'd wager." Bobby suggested. Jack gave him a look. Even though it was a common phrase to use, it still set him on edge. "Take it easy mate, I'm not serious." Jack relaxed.  
"Well, we got him there, but can we pin Sean's 'suicide' on him, too?" Sue asked.  
"There is the tape. And once we get him to confess to Tonya's murder, the rest will be a snap"  
"The only trouble now is finding him." Sue looked down at Levi, who was twitching a little. "Let's just focus on the problems we can solve for now. Such as a bathroom break for our little friend." She patted him on the head. "Come on now," she laughed, leading him on the leash. Jack jumped up. "Do- do you want me to go with you"  
Sue looked surprised. Then she laughed. "Are you worried about me? That's sweet"  
"I have every right to be. Ian could find you"  
"Dogwalker with a gun. Don't mess with her, or she'll take you to the pound." Bobby laughed.  
"I'll be fine." She walked out the door, and spoke to Levi. "Come on. Let's go chase us some sticks"  
Bobby noticed Jack's uneasy expression. "You thinking 'famous last words'?" He put his hand on Jack's shoulder.  
"I have to admit it, yes." 


	8. The Sweet Interlude

Levi was having the time of his life.  
"Come on boy, that doesn't look like a stick to me..." Sue told him to come. He did and dropped a child's mitten at her feet. "This must have been lost some time ago," she thought aloud, as she looked at the granules of dirt and sand covering the pink knitted fingers. Taking it from him, she placed it on the bench, hoping that maybe the child who lost it would find her way back to this park.  
A slight breeze ruffled her hair. "I think God gave us wind so we could tell that He's close enough to breathe on us. It's one thing that you can feel, see, smell, and hear...almost anybody's lucky, 'cause they can do at least one." She patted him on the head. "I can smell hot dogs, ice cream, smog...one thing I wish I couldn't...what about you?" Levi barked and raised his head. "You stopped listening after 'hot dogs', didn't you?" Another, as if to say, yes.  
She brushed her hands over the bench. Many people had written their names on it. "If it wasn't technically vandalism, I'd try it myself. You know whose initials I'd write." Pause. "Sometimes I think we'll just go on forever, like planets always orbiting each other but never colliding. All the show we put on, like last night,...it doesn't feel real. Or it does until we get called back to reality. I savour every moment we have...they're so rare...sometimes 5 minutes can seem like an eternity, and sometimes it seems like seconds"  
She stopped talking here, perhaps pausing to catch her breath, perhaps because she was afraid in a funny way because her department tended to "misuse" their technology and clout, particularly to prank each other. She didn't want her doggy confession to be broadcast to her whole unit.  
"Let's get going. You running on empty yet?" To answer, Levi trotted over to a bush and hid behind it. "You're so modest," she laughed. Walking over closer to the hedge, she whipped out a plastic bag, just in case. She didn't notice the man that was watching her.  
Levi's head twitched up. Sue looked to the side. She didn't see the man walk up behind her.  
He touched her shoulder with his index finger.  
"Ackk!" she yelled. Her vocal cords were exercised needlessly.  
"Sorry I scared you." Jack said. He held out a blue baseball cap. "You forgot this. I was bringing it to you"  
Sue took it from his hands. It was not hers. "How could I forget something that isn't even mine"  
Jack's eyebrows went up. Then he smiled with half of his mouth. "That's what I was trying to tell myself. Unfortunately, I never listen"  
"Just looking for an excuse to watch over me?" Sue wasn't fooled for a minute.  
"Maybe it was a bit of that...too. The danger is real. I guess it was you pretending that it didn't exist that really got me"  
"The way you do all the time"  
"I guess..." He paused. "I guess we notice it more when it's somebody else doing the ignoring. If it's you, call it 'courage'. If it's anyone but you, call it 'being foolhardy"  
"Double standards, then?" She grinned, taking his hand. "Standards of love"  
With those words, all that she had been hoping for was fulfilled. In a perfect minute, that was no less beautiful than an hour could ever be, they looked at each other with more understanding and feeling than she was sure they ever had. Levi was the alarm clock that brought them out of their waking dream. A nudge said it all.  
"Let's go back," Sue said. Jack walked by her side, in silence, and even Levi seemed to realize the sweetness of this perfect time, for he never interrupted it. The best type of together was one that not only left them wanting something more, but assured them that in all due time their wish would be granted. It was this assurance that made them perfectly okay with waiting. 


	9. The Confession Song

"Are you sure you two just aren't looking for another excuse to be all warm and fuzzy?" Lucy asked.

Sue adjusted her necklace. She hated it when the clasp migrated to the front of her neck. "What was that?"

"Nothing. So you need to go on another 'date' in order to catch this Ian guy. Doesn't that look suspicious, especially if you've been there before?"

"Not really, no." Sue looked up at Lucy. "Not if I do something a little drastic. Can you remember how much makeup I was wearing that day? As for clothes, I think it was that cranberry colored dress."

"Makeup? A little rouge, Dreaming of You in Red lipstick, and a touch of Frosty Gray eyeshadow. Why?" Lucy was puzzled.

"That's perfect. Most of those kids weren't wearing that kind of stuff. I wonder, if I cut up that old pair of jeans, and..."

"What are you saying?" Lucy's voice had that I'm-starting-to-catch-on-and-I-don't-like-what-this-sounds-like tone.

"Come on," Sue said. She pulled off the necklace and left it on her bed. "I think there's a thrift store downtown that's still open." Grabbing her purse, she headed out the door. "Come on, Levi. We're going for a ride." Lucy lingered in the room for as long as she could. "Luce, are you coming?" Turning off the light, she went into her room, picked up her own purse, and followed Sue outside.

The effect was staggering, to say the least. Thanks to a dark red wig, a little heavier application of cosmetics, a pair of jagged jean shorts, and a tie-die, multi-colored tank top, Sue looked like a totally different person. She and Lucy had stopped at the office to show off the makeover.

Bobby and Tara were properly horrified. "I hope that's all reversible," Tara said rather cautiously. "Hello, stranger." Bobby waved.

Myles walked in while Sue was turned around, looking out the window. "Hey, who's the beatnik? And why is she standing dangerously close to the filing cabinet? Identify yourself, intruder, before I am forced to take drastic action." Lucy told Sue what he had said, and she turned around. Myles did a double-take, then remarked, "Well, I feel like an idiot. Can't even recognize someone in disguise. Might as well retire right now."

Jack was the last to arrive. Lucy walked up to him and guided him over to where Sue waited. "Look what you can do with $20 worth of secondhand stuff."

"Guess I'd better change my clothes then. I was planning to wear a T-shirt and jeans. Now I'm not so sure. What's with this new look?"

"I thought maybe they wouldn't recognize us from the night before."

"But they didn't even show up."

"Not them. I mean whoever tipped them off."

"Good point. Okay, now, this isn't just going to be a concert date. I want you guys to be there in case we need backup. Like if the kid tries to run away, or attack somebody. However, I don't think that'll happen. The plan is, I and Sue watch the concert, then maybe ask some of the other band members about Ian's character. You'll be watching too. There'll be a camera in the sugar bowl on our table, which also happens to be in the front row. If we need help, either I or Sue will put our thumbs in front of the camera. Since Sue will be with me in the cafe, she will do a transcript of the important dialogue if there is any."

"Sounds good." Myles said. "How are you going to record your interviews with the band members? You going to be wired?"

"Yes, both of us. Okay, so we're all clear?" Everyone nodded. "Good. We'll leave in..." He looked at his watch. "...2 hours. I'll go get changed." He walked out of the room. "Keep on working."

Jack's transformation was not nearly so extreme, as he didn't have as much time as Sue had, spending 1 hour to her 3 on attire. He wore a pair of jeans that looked like he'd owned them since high school, and a beat-up, faded green tee. He had on a backwards baseball cap and sunglasses with black frames. He and Sue had travelled in the same car, and had gone into the cafe laughing over some joke he had told her. They sat down in their seats, and before they knew it, somebody had come up to the mike. It was the same announcer they had seen last week.

"I see a lot of faces here that were here last week." Her eyes rested on everyone for a few seconds, Sue and Jack the longest, and for a heartbeat of time, Sue thought she meant them in particular. She had been careful to leave Levi with the others so that she wouldn't be recognized by that token alone. Then the woman's gaze shifted again, and Sue breathed a small sigh of relief. "Well, I have nothing but good news for you all. ABCDZ is here tonight and they're ready to rock if you are! Are you?" Everyone yelled, "YES!" "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for; let's give it up for ABCDZ!" The crowd jumped out of their seats, and Jack and Sue were not exceptions. Everyone cheered as the 5 members walked out. After the crowd quieted down, one of the members,whom Sue recognized from the pictures as Don, walked up to the mike and said, "Hey, gang. Before we continue with our regular line-up, my good buddy Ian here is going to do a solo...of a new song he's just written." He seemed stiff, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to say the words or not. "Go ahead...Ian."

Ian walked up to the mike, and whispered something to Don, who nodded and turned away.

"What's the name of the song, Zeppers?" a teenage girl shouted from the floor.

"Done In (Well, that takes care of her)." The other guys played the music. Ian's lips were very easy to read. What he sung horrified Jack and Sue.

"She's done in

And I know it was hard to do

It's a sin

If you believe what many do

The knife was cold,

The love was old

She was nothing, done in

Well, that takes care of her,

Till the next one comes along

I'll keep on looking

Till I find a place where I belong

And nobody will ever escape

Until it's too late

She's done in

I didn't want her child

Where do I begin?

She was always acting wild

Let someone else who doesn't know her story

Take him away from me

I don't want anything to do

with anything she did

Well, that takes care of her,

Till the next one comes along

I'll keep on looking

Till I find a place where I belong

And nobody will ever escape

Until it's too late

She's been with others I know

One will stay and one will go

One was tied and one he died

I was almost free, at least I tried

Now they want me to admit I lied

But I'll never let them know

I let her go

Well, that takes care of her,

Till the next one comes along

I'll keep on looking

Till I find a place where I belong

And nobody will ever escape

Until it's too late

And now, it's too late

Time to celebrate"

Sue and Jack just stared. The rest of the audience applauded, but they didn't notice. Ian had just confessed to the whole thing.

"Is that good enough evidence for you?" Jack asked. It was a rhetorical question. The tone was not sarcastic; the question seemed to have been needed to be asked.

Sue nodded. Reaching over to the sugar bowl, she frantically shook her thumb in front of it several times.

"Move in, NOW." Jack spoke through his wire. Seconds later, a team of agents ran in. "FBI! EVERYBODY DOWN!" one barked. The others ran up to the stage. Ian tried to run under the tables with everyone else, but an agent collared him and forced him to the ground. After searching him, they cuffed Ian and escorted him out the back door. 


	10. The Mouth

"Well, well, nice collar we pulled off, huh?" Jack asked. Sue nodded. Jack turned around to address the rest of the gang. "Before we wrap this up, we still have to come up with more evidence besides his disgruntled boyfriendness. Tara, did they find out what knives were used on Tonya and Sean?"

"Sure did. Tonya was killed with a kitchen knife. It was found in the toilet at her apartment. There were traces of latex on it, suggesting he used rubber gloves. No prints." She threw a bag down on her desk, containing the utensil. "However, the tongue cutter knife patterns are more consistent with that of a scalpel."

"Which brings us to the question; what was Ian doing with one of those?"

"It gets weirder. The autopsy report says that the tongue was cut clean off. No remaining tissue whatsoever."

"My God, that kid would have had to have had the hands of a surgeon," Myles gasped.

"Genetics says he did. His father is an oral surgeon."

"What's that?" Sue asked.

"O-R-A-L S-U-R-G-E-O-N," Tara spelled. "Means he does stuff like remove wisdom teeth." She pasted a picture on the whiteboard. "Harmon Credit, 58, 3 kids besides Ian, who's from his first marriage. The other 3 are from his second wife; twin 5-year-olds and a 3-year-old, all girls."

Myles had been turning pale the whole time.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked.

"I know him."

"Friend of your parents?"

"Doctor-patient. I had those darn things out when I was 17. All 8 of them. He said he'd never seen somebody who had all of them in his practice before. Used to call me,'Mr.Eight'." He winced and squeezed his mouth. "I still get the willies just thinking about it."

"Well, in that case, I'm sure he'd be glad to see a former patient who 'made it'." Bobby suggested. "I wouldn't mind going along, if for no other reason than to hear him actually call you that."

"Oh, please, you make it sound like I had terminal cancer! But I'll go," he added. "Might as well not waste knowing a guy."

At this he sat down, thinking the topic was as good as closed until he returned. He settled back in his chair, and for a few seconds didn't realize that everyone was staring at him. He shrugged his shoulders, as if to say,What?

Bobby piped up.

"I'll bet you screamed. Did you scream?"

"No, I did not scream," Myles replied matter-of-factly. Clenching his jaw, he continued. "I gritted my teeth and bore it."

That still wasn't enough for Bobby.

"Do you,...want to scream now?"

"No, I do not. In fact, I-" His face ballooned. "'Scuse me, back soon!" he mumbled, holding his mouth and running out of the office.

Jack just stared at Bobby. Then he spoke up. "Good job there."

"You made him puke. What's so good about that?" Lucy asked. "Aside from seeing the expression on his face."

"Well, I figured it was better he let it out here than at the office. 'Hi, Doc-blech!' I didn't know he'd vomit, anyway, so you see, if he had, chances are he'd ruin a really nice expensive carpet, not just plug up a replaceable government-funded toilet."

(cityscape-office)

"Sit down," Dr. Credit offered both Bobby and Myles a chair in his office. He looked intently at Bobby's eyes. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

Bobby motioned to Myles. "Nope, sorry, I believe this chap's the one you're after. You used to call him 'Mr. Eight'?"

"Can I see your mouth a minute?" Myles got up, turned towards an overhead fluorescent light, and opened his mouth. The doctor looked at it for a minute and said, "Yes, I remember you. You see, I can always remember a mouth, but never a face." He shook Myles' hand. "So, you're with the FBI now? My, my, you make me feel like an old man. What are you here for?"

"It's about your son Ian."

Harmon paled. "My-my son? Is-is he in any trouble?"

"'Fraid so. Your son is suspected of killing his former girlfriend." Myles took a picture of Tonya out and passed it to the doctor.

"I don't know her, sorry." Dr. Credit looked up at the two of them. "I haven't had much contact with Ian in 2 1/2 years. That was when he moved out. Emily left the twins alone with him one night to babysit, and when she came back, they were crying and their diapers were soaked. One of them had bruises on her arms and legs. She asked her what happened, and the little one said, "He did it...he hit me. Bad man." That was it for her. He never liked Emily, and the feeling was mutual. She told me that was the last straw, and if I didn't throw him out..." Dr. Credit's eyes were filled with tears. "...she'd walk out and never come back. Ian was old enough to look after himself, so I made the choice."

Bobby put his hand on the doctor's. "I'm sorry."

Jack ran up to Sue. "Garrett wants to see the both of us."

"Re?"

"Ian."

Sue got up from her desk and followed him.

"We can't hold Zeppers in custody any longer." 


	11. The Alias

"What do you mean you can't hold him in custody anymore?" Jack looked tense. "He admitted to the whole thing!"

Garrett looked up at him. "Technically, yes. Legally, no. Zeppers has the right to sing whatever song lyrics he wants, under freesom of speech. I don't know if you listen to some of the music they've got out there, but a lot of it is just as bad as this."

"Tell me, did any of those singers ever get implicated in a murder case whose facts match their recent song lyrics exactly? The woman, the lost love, the child she had…..all that is there and you're saying it's either a coincidence or inspiration?" Sue watched Jack's passionate arguments and thought at that moment that he should run for office when he retired from the Bureau. "And by any chance, does this man's rights also include the right to murder innocent women?"

"He hasn't even been proven to be the murderer yet.All we have is surveillance, which he swears exists because he was visiting a buddy in the same building, who has also confirmed the accused's statements."

"Who is this friend?"

"His bandmate, Thomas 'Tommy' Screwber."

"Art wins over violence. I thought I'd be happy when that day came," Myles remarked.

"We're going to have to talk to this Screwber character, see if we can find any holes in what he says." Jack put a sheaf of papers on the desk.

"Like if the time between Ian's leaving the apartment and leaving the building itself are significantly different,"

"Exactly, Sue. But it may be harder than that. It's becoming easier and easier to fool technology."

"Isn't it interesting that the same advances that allow us to do our job better also allow the bad guys to match that stride?" Myles mused.

"Yeah. What ever happened to good old common sense?" Lucy asked.

"It's being replaced by Microsoft Csenser, free trial downloads on the company site."

"The man has an idea. Bill, are you listening?" Bobby joked. "Let's get this Screwball."

"Screwber."

"Maybe both."

(cityscape)

"He knocked on my door that night at around 7 pm, said something about how he wants to go over some song that we wrote last jamming session. I'm like, what the heck? IM me, then.But I let him in. He sat down on my couch and we talked about the song, how the lyrics and music should go, thought of some new ideas…yeah."

"Did he act strangely?" Jack questioned.

"Coming over to my apartment when he could've just called or IM'd? Yeah, that was weird. We usually wait until we have a concert or a practise to talk face-to-face. And he seemed like, totally not interested in anything. Like, it was your idea, Zep, so why're you less up about it than I am?"

"The songs you discussed,…was 'Done In' one of them?"

"No." The young man ran his fingers through his buzzcut red hair. "That was a surprise to all of us. We were going to go through our crowd pleaser list, then maybe some requests, but Ian just burst into the dressing room with a piece of paper in his hand. He thrust it at me, and said, 'This is the first song we do.' I'm like, what? I thought- but he just insists. I say okay, but it might not sound great. Cold reading, and all. He said he didn't care. I asked what were the lyrics? Surprise. And he never did that before."

"When did Ian leave the building?"

"Around 3:00 in the AM. We pretty much hung out for about the last 3 hours, watching TV and drinking beer."

Jack tried not to show his dismay. But then, a ray of hope; Sue, who had been watching the interview with interest and silence ,sat up, and jack somehow had a feeling that he was about to witness a catalyst at work.

"Did Ian leave your apartment and come back?"

"Leave only the apartment?…not the…he-he went out into the hall, once,…at 9, or so, said he was going to bang on the door of the neighbours, who were doing something loud. I was glued to the computer screen, so I didn't pay him any mind. It must have been 30 minutes later that I realised he'd come back. He gave me a shout from the kitchen, said that he'd been raiding my fridge for the last 25 minutes, and I must have been really engrossed in what I was doing." He sat up. "Is that all?"

Jack sighed with relief. "Yes, and thank you very much, Tommy."

"Good news!" Jack and Tarah said in unison. Then "You first…..No, you." Laughter.

"'Now that's a sound I simply must hear.'" Myles cupped his hand to his ear, like the Grinch.

"You first, Jack. Did Screwber tell you what we need to know?"

"Yes. We got a time from him. Nine o'clock to nine thirty, give or take a few minutes. Zeppers leaves his apartment, but not the building. At around 3, he leaves the building, just like you said." The lines around his face relaxed. "What's your's?"

"Ian has a record."

"We already knew that."

"If you'd allowed for a dramatic pause instead of a not-so-dramatic interruption, you wouldn't be so disappointed." Tarah smiled. "As Aimee said, Ian and Tonya were in high school together. She only knew that because Tonya told her. What she didn't know was that Ian was not Ian then." She pinned a picture up on the board. "He was Nathan Barrett, and he was wanted in connection with 3 break and enters."

"Something doesn't make sense" Myles remarked. "You already told us he had a different record. School fire and speeding tickets. What's going on?"

"What's going on is, this is the real Ian Zeppers." She put up another picture. "He hung himself 5 years ago in Illinois." The picture was of a 12-year old boy, pale and fair."And the interesting part is, he was a junior high schoolmate of Ian's. Barrett went to university here, only. He moved out of his parent's house to come here."

"Were Barrett and Zeppers friends?"

"It seemed so." Tarah sat down at her desk. "Zeppers the True was found hanging in the boy's washroom from a lighting fixture. Barrett was noticeably upset."

"There's one thing I just can't grasp," Sue said. She brushed a strand of hair off her face. "Why take the identity of a boy who had gotten in trouble , rather than a clean one?"

"We always suspect the clean records," Myles said. "Ever seen those shows? It's frequently the whistles who wind up being guilty. He must have thought life imitates art."

"And the drug deals? Why would a boy of 12 be implicated?"

"The real Ian's brother, Marcus, was the actual dealer; Ian was merely suspected. But there was no proof that he had anything to do with it."

Jack had been on his computer since Myles had mentioned the record the first time.He now stood up, with a look on his face. Of what?

"Take a look at this," he said, waving a paper in Sue's face. The others looked up. "It's ABCDZ's new publicity poster. Check out the names."

"Why?" Sue read them aloud. "Jack Wallace, Tommy Screwber, Rex Rigley, Don McKoe, and….." Her face twisted with confusion. "…Izzy Douglas? What happened to Ian?"

"Alias."

"He's on to us, then," Bobby said. "Guess he thought that 'Ian Zeppers' would give him some trouble. Especially if the real Ian's parents ever find out."

"That's the price you pay for making it big," Myles said. "And Credit?"

"That's even weirder. I checked up on his family life, and I found no wife, no kids, no nothing. He isn't married according to records." Tarah sighed. "Looks like the good doctor lied to you."

"I don't believe it. We had such a rapport….. But you said he had children."

"Accroding to his Internet bio, yes. His regular records, no. Perhaps he was bribed."

"How do you bribe a rich doctor? Tell him you'll take away his Ferrari?"

"Maybe you tell him to look out when he walks by a dark alley," Sue suggested.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he disappears down a manhole someday." Bobby shivered.

"I also have some more good news."

"Bring it on."

"Last night, the café was robbed."

"Heartsaflame?" Sue asked.

"That's the one. Lucky for us they had cameras installed 2 weeks ago. Guess who's pilfered the payroll?" She turned on the projector and slipped a video cassette into the player. A fuzzy picture. But it was enough.

"That, I believe, is none other than Mister Barrett." Myles said, pointing forcefully towards the screen.

"Correct."

"And after they've been so good to him, too. Bet he won't get any return engagements."

"And now, we have an excuse to hold him, then," Lucy surmised.

"Double correct."

"Don't you just love it when the criminal makes it easy?" Myles remarked.

The phone rang. Jack picked it up. "Hudson……now? They-they….yes…I understand…..the children, too?

All 5 ?……at their house…..damn,…I know….okay, bye."

"What is it?" Sue asked.

Jack smoothed the skin on his face with his right hand. "Hostage situation. Barrett's got the Maxwells and Denny."


	12. The Hostages, Family, and Thankfulness

Sue sat in the van, sipping coffee from a mug. It had been 2 hours since Jack had got the phone call and they had rushed over here as they usually did when something became intense. But for Sue, the entire ride had seemed to go by in slow motion. She had thought the whole time about Denny, Dennis, Kelly and their children, but especially Denny. The fact that he was a mere toddler was both a blessing and a curse; although he wouldn't remember the hostage taking, he wouldn't remember his mother either. If he got out of it alive-_when_ he got out of it alive, she'd do all she could to help the poor child. She'd already called Aimee the night before and suggested they go over to Tonya's apartment after the investigation had settled down and collect some photos and personal items for her parents and Denny. Aimee had agreed, and said she had talked to some of the other women from the Lamaze class and their church about a memorial service. It was just so unfair sometimes the way things worked out.

Jack entered the van. "No word from Barrett?" she asked him.

"Not yet. He's being very tight-lipped about his demands. I can tell you that the Maxwells are still alive."

"Thank God!"

"He's got them sitting on the couch in front of the picture window, and he's hiding behind it. Which is smart. Snipers can't pick him off if the family is in full range."

Sue stood up and left the chair free for him, and he sat. She then asked the question she was sure they were all wondering. "What about Denny?" Her voice sounded hoarse.

"In Barrett's lap. Kind of ironic that he's only now taking an interest in his 'son'." Jack coughed.

"I guess we're both coming down with something." Sue smiled and passed him a bottle of water.

"Yeah, but it'd probably be a lot easier for you to get used to." Jack uncapped the bottle and drank. Tarah was sitting over in the corner, listening to the whole conversation, while Myles and Bobby were talking to the police.

"So…I guess we just wait, then."

"Right. Of course, at any moment, we'll need to jump up and you, my friend, will spill that coffee all down your jacket. Or on Levi." Levi barked at this.

Sue hunkered down, depositing the coffee cup on the counter as she did so, and petted him on the head. "Don't worry, boy, coffee grounds are good for your coat."

Tarah turned around. "The negotiators keep calling our boy, but he just keeps hanging up. Uncooperative, rude, and criminal…Tonya, God rest your soul, what were you thinking?"

"He's going to have to cooperate sooner or later. I can't believe that he's just a creep who gets his jollies out of taking hostages." Sue remarked as she got back up. "There's got to be a human, reasonable side to him, somewhere. I just wish it came out before all this happened."

Jack put his hand on her shoulder. "We all do."

The door opened and Myles walked in. "Another boatload of vultures just showed up. Can somebody else deal with them? I swear, if it weren't for the fancy clothes and journalism diplomas I wouldn't know them from half the lowlife scum we scrape off the road."

"Hey, take it easy, mate. My girlfriend is one of those 'vultures'." Bobby shouted from outside.

"Okay, so there are a few pedigreed kindhearted darlings out there, but my opinion on the whole remains." Myles shut the door and walked over to where Jack and Sue were. "Nothing yet."

"You would just have called us if there had been." Jack reminded him.

"Good point." He smoothed out his jacket. Jack and Sue just stared. "What? Can't I keep my composure in a crisis? Not to mention render my jacket wrinkle-free?"

"Well, your jacket might be dewrinkled, but your face…" It was true. Far from age wrinkles, these were worry wrinkles.

"Enough of that. Botox is a poison."

"You're pale, sweating, shaky, making smart remarks…" Sue counted on her fingers. "A, you're having an attack, B, you're being you, or C, you _care_."

Myles tried to smile, and produced a weak one. "Of-of course I care. I wouldn't be in this job if I didn't."

"You're just like an M&M. You have an thin shell, and a tender filling," Jack teased.

"Stop it, I'm going to cry." He blew his nose loudly but fakely in a tissue.

The door swung open, and Myles noted, "We oughta install a revolving one of those-"

Bobby was breathless.

"Barrett's talking."

"Why the grand entrance? There's a thing called a walkie-talkie, you know."

"He wants to talk to somebody from the team."

"One of us?" Sue was surprised. "What about the negotiator?"

"Go figure. He says he won't say anything unless we talk to him."

"Who's it going to be?" Tarah asked.

"I'd enjoy a little heart-to-heart with him," Myles offered, but the look in his eyes suggested something different.

"I'm afraid that would probably turn into more of a head-to-head, wouldn't you say?" Bobby asked.

"Like two mountain goats," Tarah added. There was a brief pause.

"I'll go," Sue offered.

"Good choice. You're the touchy-feely type, after all," Myles remarked.

Jack sighed. "Are you _absolutely,_ 100 sure you want to do this?" He looked at her in a way that made her feel like she was on trial...but in a good way.

Sue nodded. "Absolutely, 100 sure." She brushed away a lock of hair. "I-I just imagined how awful it must be for Dennis to know that because of a wrong decision he made 3 years ago, the people he cares about most are now in danger. And he's powerless to save them, because anything he does will certainly have bad results. He'll wonder for years what he could have done differently, what he should have done." None of the others spoke or moved. "Nobody should have to go through that, ever."

Jack just continued to stare at her, swallowed hard, and then answered. "Has it ever occurred to you that what you just said applies to all of us, too? Sue, Barrett killed a woman, drove a man to his death after cutting out his tongue, blackmailed a rich doctor, and possibly killed him as well...and now he's got 5 people held hostage in their own house. If we send you in.and..." He stopped abruptly.

"We've faced worse things before. We all have come close to death. It's our job."

"It's-it's not just our job. It's..._you_." The rest of the team's expressions showed that clearly the two of them had forgotten that they had an audience.

"If I don't, it'll be them." A long pause.

"All right," Jack said. It was obviously a very hard thing for him to say.

"Do the Maxwells have a computer?" Sue asked.

"IceCafe Books does have a website, so probably yes." Tarah said.

Jack relaxed. "So she can talk to him _without_ going out there?"

"It's preferable."

Sue was relieved, too. "Tell the negotiator to tell Barrett that he should log onto his e-mail. Ask him what it is." She slumped down into the swivel chair as Bobby left the truck, and gave a yawn.

"Tired?" Jack asked.

"That's a silly question."

"Now look what you did," he said, yawning also. "I've caught it from you."

"Yawns are notoriously contagious, shame on you for not looking out."

Jack's cell phone rang. "Hello...Bobby...okay...he agreed...slowly...okay...bye." He finished scribbling down the e-mail address and passed it to Sue. She turned on the computer next to her and waited for it to finish starting up.

Hello, Nathan.

_want something?_

Yes. We all want you to let Dennis, Kelly, and the children go.

_sorry cant do that_

Why not?

_you ask why? you know what they did_

No, what did they do?

_dennis dumped her,jerk,kelly hates her,the kids because of the parents, and denny is mine_

We don't know that.Tonya didn't know that.

_must be_

What do you want?

_money_

Why?

_take denny and run_

You have a gun to his head.

_ill kill him if you won't let me keep him_

That's very selfish of you. What if Dennis is his father?

_what if what if ha ha _

Can you let Kelly and the children out?

_no sorry_

Can you let just the children out?

_no_

What did you do with Dr.Credit?

_bay, trash bag_

You killed him?

_you said it, not me_

Can't you see how much this is hurting everyone?

_yes would I do it otherwise?_

This isn't helping you. 3 murders, 5 hostages. If you just give up now we'll be easier on you.

d_ont want to_

Nathan, you had such a bright future in music. Why ruin it all because of revenge?

_Don't know_

If you just come out, everything will be over. Don't you want it to be over?

_Yes_

Then why prolong it?

_Don't know_

You loved Tonya very much, didn't you?

_Yes_

Do you think she'd want you to have Denny?

_No she hates me_

Because she thought you used her only because she was beautiful.

_Hey a good looking girl belongs on my arm_

Not when that arm is attached to a hand with a knife on it

_Sean beat her he never speaks again_

How come you wrote that awful song? It sounds as though you hated her

_Love hate complicated what do I want?_

I know that feeling, but it's nothing to kill over. You said you didn't want Denny.

_Changed mind. If hes mine need him. Hold on to. Something to hold_

Why did you make Dr. Credit's story abusive? Why not just be estranged?

_It's what you wanted_

I didn't want this case to happen at all. None of us did. The happiest day of our lives will be when there is no need for the FBI. But that day will never come, so we have to do our best every day in search of something futile.

_Pointless like one of my songs_

Yes, but you could have had a future, Nathan. A good future. I could have heard your music on the radio and thought, "What a talented young man."

_Too late_

Yes, I know, but Dennis and Kelly's children have a future,too. So does Denny. Do you want to take that from them?

_No, but if I have to_

You don't have to.You can just walk on out of the house and let them grow up to achieve their dreams the way you can't now. It's up to you.

_Is it?_

Of course.

_To be or not to be._

BANG!

A single gunshot rang out. Jack signed _gunshot _to Sue, but she could already tell by the way they all jumped up and ran over to Tarah's seat.

"Who fired that?" Tarah asked into her headset. "From inside?….that was the only one…."

Sue sighed. "It's over."

"Pardon?" Jack queried.

"'To be or not to be.'"

"Hamlet contemplating suicide." Myles whispered.

"Is everyone else okay?" Tarah continued. A smile crossed her lips. "All present and accounted for," she said as she turned to the team.

"Thank God," they all said at once. But Sue said a silent prayer for Nathan.

Sue walked down the hallway to one of the meeting rooms. The slim brown envelope she held in her hands was unmarked and unopened, because she wanted to find out at the same time as Dennis and Kelly did. She ushered Levi in and walked in afterwards, shutting the door behind her.

The couple were sitting in brown leather chairs, and the bright light shone down on both of them. Kelly's hair was braided in such a way that it looked like a bunch of bananas, only black. Dennis had his cropped closely to his head. Both were pale and tired-looking, but in their eyes Sue saw an incredible hope.

"Thank you for recommending the counsellor to us," Kelly started.

"No problem," Sue smiled sweetly, remembering both the seriousness of the situation and the need to be caring. She placed the envelope on the table. "Do you want to open it, or do you want me to?"

"We can't express our gratitude enough. But, we want to know, and then we don't want to know…it's hard." Dennis admitted.

"I understand."

"We'll still adopt and love Denny anyway…it's just that…when he grows up, he'll want to know who his father is. And we couldn't lie to him." A tear ran down Kelly's cheek.

"Forgiveness is wonderful,Kelly. Not enough people practise it."

"I love Dennis…it's just that when he told me about Tonya, I was scared…scared that we were all over…scared that he'd leave me." Dennis put his hand on her shoulder. "I had no reason to be, I know that now."

"I'm glad."

"Could-could you open it, p-please?" Kelly stammered.

Sue slid her index finger under the flap and ripped it gently open. Muttering a prayer under her breath, she lifted the sheet out of the envelope. There were 3 columns; Sean,Nathan, and Dennis. She looked at each one in turn, once, then twice, to make sure she had read it correctly. Kelly and Dennis clasped each other's hands, looking at Sue's face for any indication of the results. Sue opened her mouth and spoke.

_"He's yours."_

Only two words, and yet they meant more at that moment to Dennis and Kelly than any of the billions of words in the books they sold at their shop. Leaping out of their seats, the couple laughed and ran into each other's arms, embracing as though they would never let go. Sue felt their euphoria; it was in her heart, too, and she was grateful that she could be the one to tell them. Levi stood up on his hind legs, and they all laughed through tears of joy.­­

­­

"Isn't it great when things work out just the way you want them to?" Lucy asked Sue.

"At least this one did." Sue replied. She passed Lucy a handful of chocolate chips.

"Oh, right. You and _Michael_, aka Jack." Lucy smiled, and gave Sue a friendly punch in the arm. "Mmm, these _are _good without the cookie around them," she grinned, dropping the chips in her mouth one by one. "Did they find the payroll from Heartsaflame?"

"Nathan used it to buy the gun off the street." Pause. " Did you know that Aimee asked the cafe if they would do a fundraiser night for single parents?"

"Did they say yes?" Lucy sat up and undid the elastic from her ponytail. Lying back, her hair fanned out on the couch.

"Uh-huh. And get this; the remaining members of Nathan's group are going to perform."

"Wow. I guess they really feel sorry for what he did. Gee, you think you know a guy, and then…." Lucy trailed off. "So, are you going?"

"I'd like to."

"Me too. It's for a worthy cause, plus, our high positions will show people that people like us care,too."

" 'People like us?' You make the FBI sound like a country club," Sue laughed.

"Great, so I'm pulling a Myles on you. That's what I get for spending a good deal of time with him at the office."

"He's like radioactive material. Nobody can be exposed to him without suffering harmful effects." Sue put a chip in her mouth and stared at the wall.

"Something wrong?"

"I was just thinking…about mistakes that we make. People we choose to deal with.I'm single,vulnerable…imagine if things turned out differently and I was in Tonya's place. Sometimes it's difficult to believe that I've come this far. I still wonder why I got here and where I still have to go."

"Don't let it get you down. You are where you are now, and nothing can change that. Now,stop being so depressing or I'll throw you out on the street." Lucy was grinning broadly.

Sue threw a couch cushion at her, causing her to drop her chips on the couch. "Take it easy, these things stain!" Lucy laughed. Seizing another cushion, she batted it at Sue's head. The bag of chips spilled all over the floor, but neither noticed.

"Why you-" And thus started a pillow fight.

"If they remove your wisdom teeth, does it make you stupider?" Bobby stuck a fork into his salad.

"No, that's just a myth." Myles said, teeth gritted together.

"Do we have to talk about teeth while we're eating?" Jack asked. "First thing that comes to my mind is the before and after pictures of people whose teeth are rotten.Yuck."

"Bet that doesn't make you feel any happier about the mayo dressing," Sue smiled.

"That is not fair,Sue. You stole my little trick."

"You mean the one where you compare sloppy food to disgusting topics of conversation? Anybody can do it." She stole a leaf of lettuce from his bowl.

"Well, I salute _my _molars. Without them I wouldn't be enjoying this delicious slice of pizza." Tarah brought the slice to her mouth and took a long, exaggerated bite.

"To teeth, and tongue, for bite and taste, or else all this food would go to waste!" Lucy toasted, raising her cola in the air.

"Yeah. Go teeth," Myles mumbled quickly, getting up and running in the direction of the bathroom.

"For a guy who's almost been killed and seen countless bodies before, he sure is sensitive," Lucy pointed her fork in his direction.

"Can you blame Mr.Eight?" Bobby asked. "Some things we just never get over."

"And some things we don't want to," Sue said. She smiled at Jack, and Jack smiled back at her.

Levi whined. "Have a meatball," Sue said, passing him the treat. Levi gulped it down, and Sue opened her purse and took out a small bag of dog food and a paper plate. Pouring out the meal, she put it on the ground. At that moment,she remembered Tonya, and Aimee, and Kelly.

"To mothers." Sue raised her glass.

"Agreed." All the others did the same.


End file.
